Carton-filling machine



April 1 1924. 1,489,134

s. LADD CARTON FILLING M ACHINE Filed April 26, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 1fifiervzanfiad'd INVENTOR A ORKEY WITNESS. 7T

S. LADD CARTON FILLING MACHINE April 1 1924.

Filed April 26, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 i U R erman INVENTOR ATTORNEYWITNISS:

April 1 1924.

' S. LADD CARTON FILLING MACHINE Filed April 26 ,yfiermad Ladd ATTORNEYWITNESS:

April 1 1924.

s. LADD CARTON FILLING MACHINE Filed pril 26. 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 seranlmfwsm'on 5M %5M BY flajiwm ATTORNEY April 1 1924. 1,489,134

s. LADD CARTON FILLING MACHINE Filed April 26, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 5fierma 72 Zadd IINVENTOR w BY Patented Apr. 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES SHERMAN LADD, OF KILDEER, NORTH DAKOTA.

GABTON-FILLING MACHINE.

Application filed April 26, 1920. Serial No. 878,755.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SHERMAN LADD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kildeer, in the county of Dunn and State of North Dakota,have invented new and use ful Improvements in Carton-Filling Machines,of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple andcomparatively inexpensive machine for feeding, opening, fillingandsealing cartons to avoid the necessity of individually handling the sameand with a view to securing, an accuracy of manipulation both as to thefilling and sealing which is unattainableby the use of the devicesordinarily employed for that purpose, and under condition which willinsure uni.- formity ofthe charges deposited in successive cartons. 1

Further objects and advantages will appear in the course of thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment of the device, it beingunderstood that changes in form, proportion and details may be resortedto within the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit of the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the machine.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion thereof and v Figure 3 is aside elevation of a portion of the machine and showing parts in section.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the machine and showingparts in section.

Figure 5 is a top plan viewof a portion of the machine and showing partsin section.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are transverse sectional views.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary top plan view.

Figure 10 is a detail perspective view 'of one of the cartons.

The mechanism consists essentially of a carton feeding device throughand by which the cartons in a stack are fed successively to spreadingdevices by which the cartons are opened to permit of the folding inproper relation of the bottom flaps, means for gumming or a plying glueto one of the flaps while the atter are in an open or spread condition,means for folding the flaps so as to cause the sealing thereof to formthe bot tom of the carton, means for continuously conveying the cartonduring the said gumthe brackets 12. Operating in the runway while at theoutlet end of the runway 1s 10- ming and folding operation, means foropening pr spreading the top flaps to permit of the introductlon of thecontents, means for depositing the desired material in the car- 60 ton,means for gumming one of the cover or top flaps, and means for foldingand sealing the top flap preparatory to delivery for packing andshipping.

The carton feeding mechanism includes a runway 10 of which the sidewalls 10 and 10 are inwardly and outwardly adjustable to accommodatecartons of different sizes or dimensions, said cartons being indicatedat 11 in stacked form as they are fed through the runway. While in depthand width the cartons are preferably of the same size, they vary inthickness and hence the end folds thereof being deeper require a widerrunway, and obviously the side flaps of the top and bottom beingcorrespondingly wider a deeper runway is necessary. Any suitable meansfor securing the said walls in their adjusted positions may be employedsuch as and designed to advance the stack of cartons as they are removedsuccessively at the outlet end, isa follower 13, with the stem 14 ofwhich is connected actuating springs 15 cated a stop finger 16 to holdthe foremost carton and hence those in rear thereof until positivelyremoved by means hereinafter described. This stop finger projectsupwardly from the floor or bottom of the runway to engage the cartonatthe lower edge and the forward wall or element of the carton which isrepresented by one of the side 1 covering flaps for the bottom isprovided with a notch 17 adapted to pass the finger,

by straddling the same, so that the foremost carton springs at itsforward wall slightly beyond the end of the runway as shown in Figure 2to permit of the introduction into the carton of the tapered upper endof a plunger 18. The plunger is mounted to slide vertically on the frameof the machine and is provided with a longitudinal slot which receives acam or arm 19 on the main or driving shaft 20 which may receive itsmotion from any suitable source. The cam is adapted to raise the plungeragainst the tension of a coil sprin '20 secured to the frame and upon :1ha f revolution of the shaft releases the plunger for a'downwardmovement. While the stop finger 16 permits the forward springing of theoutermost or forward wall of the carton as above noted, it restrains therear wall thereof until the plunger has been introduced into the cartonto bring the forward wall of the carton into the spring 20"to await thecam on its upward movement. The flights 21 are arranged on an endlesscarton conveyor 22 which traverses a carton guide or runway 23 andserves to carry the cartons continuously and successively through saidrunway or guide from the outlet end of the feeding mechanism to thedelivery point of the machine where the cartons having been filled:

and sealed are discharged for packing and storing or shipment. Thedisengagement of the rear walls of the cartons from the stop ordetaining finger 16 is due to the forcible action of the plunger and themovement of the carton longitudinally of the runway or guide 23 when thecarton is engaged by a flight of said endless conveyor. Obviously theengaging flight of the conveyor, as indicated in Figure 9, will engageone corner of the carton that is to say one corner representing thejoint between the front wall and an end wall of the carton, and disposedin the path of the carton in its movement received from the conveyor isa retarding device 24: consisting of a yielding or spring arm adapted toengage the side diagonally opposite angle of the carton, so that therestraining effect of this detaining device opposed to the forwardpressure of the engagmg flight of the conveyor will tend to open orspread the carton so as to permit the bottom flap to be folded. The saiddetaining deviceis located as shown at the forward vertical angle of theoutlet of the carton runway, and its action as described may besupplemented, so as to hold the carton in the spread condition for therequired length of time, by additional yielding restraining or detainingelements 25 arranged on the rear wall of the carton guide and projectingtoward the conveyor in the path of cartons carried thereby. Alsocovering the top of the feed runway at its outlet end is a check plate26 to prevent the upward displacement of the cartons as they aresuccessively engaged by the spreader consisting of the plunger 18. i

As a carton engaged by and carried forward through means of the conveyoras above. described enters the main runway or guide 23 the bottom flapsthereof are engaged by a presser foot 27 which closes the first sideflap and spreads the front flap outwardly and exposes the front flap tothe action of a gluing or sealing dauber 28. While the lue is beingapplied to the bottom flaps t e carton is partially supported by thepresser foot 27 and the bristles of the brush respectively, The gluingor sealing device is of the rotary type indicated, which is charged withglue or other suitable ce-' lnent from a reservoir or glue pot 29,motion being communicated thereto through suitable gearing from thedrive shaft, which latter also through corresponding intermediate meanscommunicate motion to the endless conveyor.

After the front flap of the carton has received the glue or sealingmaterial, the carton is carried beyond the field of action of thepresser footand as it approaches the inclined U-shaped folders indicatedat 30, 31 and 32, the last side flap which has been in what may betermed a dragging position is moved forward into position to lie incontact with the first side flap by means of a rotary winged folder 33,continuously actuated from the drive shaft, so that the first and lastside flaps are engaged by the cam folder 30 and the front and rear flapsare successively engaged by the cam folders 31 and 32 and are broughtinto parallelism with the side flaps with the gummed or glued surface orportion of the front flap innermost, to secure the elements of thebottom of the carton in operative relation. The folder 32 may beextended to any desired point to maintain this relation of the foldedflaps until the sealing material or glue has had an opportunity to set.

As soon as the closing of the bottom of the carton has been effected asdescribed it is ready for filling and is therefore brought intooperative relation with the filling hopper 34, but in approaching saidhopper the. closed bottom of the carton is moved over the platform 34:of the first side flap of the top 1s brought into operative relationwith winged rotary folder 35 serving to swing or fold said flapforwardly or in the direction of progress of the carton, so that saidflap will pass in an open and unobstructing position under the presserfoot 36. Obviously the tapered extremity or entering end of the presserfoot will flatten out the other flaps and cause them to lie parallelwith the upperedges of the walls of the carton guide orrunway beneaththe presser foot which consists'of a plate. The front flap is exposed tothe action of a rotary dauber 37 operating in connection with areservoir or glue pot 38, which, in common with the reservoir or gluePot 29 may be kept at the desired temperature to insure the liquidcondition of the liquid or cement by any suitable or approved heatingdevice, not shown, for the reason that such devices are common and wellknewn in the art.

While the top or covering flaps of the carton are held in the open orspread condition by the presser foot 36 the material with which thecanton is to be charged is introduced thereinto through the hopper 34.

of the 'justment of said walls.

are thus held in proper relation while the front and rear flaps arefolded successively down upon the same by the action of the folderguides 41 and 42 to bring the gummed or glue coated surface of the frontflap into contact with the surface of the rear flap to effect thesealing of the carton top. The guide 42 is extended as shown at 43 toinsure the proper setting of the glue or sealing material beforereleasing the flaps, so that an effective sealing of the top'of thecarton is assured.

Auxiliary lateral stops 44 are provided on the side walls of the cartonfeed runway to assist the stop finger in detaining the foremost cartonuntil detached by the action lunger, so that the premature release ofthe carton is prevented. An adjustable connection is afforded betweenthe check plate 26 and side walls of said runway, to allow'for thenecessary lateral ad- This connection consists, of "slots 45 formed inthe check plate which are engaged by screws or pins 46 as clearly shownin Figures 1 and 3.

From the foregoing description the opera-- tionof the mechanism will beobvious in that it consists essentially in the successive removal of thecartons from the feeding mechanism and the preliminary spreading of thesame-by the insertion or'introduction of the plunger which serves toeffect the disengagement of the cartons from the restraining ordetaining means in the outlet of said feeding mechanism, and thecomplete spreading of the carton into its normal shape by the jointaction of the forwardly moving conveyor and the detaining orresistancedevices in the carton guide or runway until the disposition of thebottom flaps i effected for the application of the sealing meanspreparatory to folding.

After the flaps of the bottom have been folded and sealed, the cartonobviously will maintain its proper form while it is being carriedsuccessively under the upper presser plate and is being filled, whilethe folding of the top or cover flap is effected substantially by theequivalent of the means employed for folding the bottom flaps, so thatthe filled carton duly sealed top and bottom is delivered at the outletend of the main guide or runway ready for packing and storing orshipping,all of the moving parts of the mechanism being actuated by acommon drive shaft so that a continuous operation upon successivecartons is effected with the resulting economy andaccuracy in chargingthe containers.

Having described the invention I claim 1. A cartonfilling machine havinga feeder provided with a runway having temporary checking means at itsoutlet, a carton guide disposed transversely to the outlet of the runwayand having an endless conveyor traversing the same and provided withspaced flights for successively engaging cartons received fromthefeeder, spring influenced means for successively removing carton fromthe feeder and arranging them in the paths of the flight of saidconveyor, yielding restraining means arranged in the guide and in thepath of advancing cartons or opposing the forward movement of thecartons carried by the conveyor, and an ularly arranged u-shaped camfolders isposed in the path of the cartons for successively folding theflaps thereof to form the 1 m si ature. SHERMAN L DD.

